


It Will Always Be Worth It

by MerakiForest



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Blood and Injury, Department of Mysteries, Gen, Ministry of Magic (Harry Potter), Near Death Experiences, Sirius Black Fest 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiForest/pseuds/MerakiForest
Summary: Sirius Black would always do whatever it took to keep Harry Potter safe and not even the Veil in the Department of Mysteries is going to hold him back.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34
Collections: Sirius Black Fest 2020





	It Will Always Be Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 11: Sirius is able to grab the edge of the Veil to haul himself back. One of the curtains wraps itself around an arm/leg but Sirius fights to not fall through. 

The impact to the center of his chest knocked Sirius Black off balance and a mixture of fear and shock crossed over his face. Slick stones under his feet didn't help and he stumbled back towards the Veil while Bellatrix looked on in glee. Pain radiated from the impact point, the stinging hex causing his lungs to seize up, but he wasn't breathing anyway because he was falling straight into the Veil. 

Sheer panic shot through his entire system and he desperately tried to get any of his limbs to respond in the seconds that stretched and warped as he fell towards certain death. Why had he decided that dueling in front of this blasted thing was a good idea? 

A hand that he could barely feel thanks to that hex caught the edge of the stone frame and his backwards momentum was barely halted. Blessed merciful relief flooded his system as he tried to straighten himself out and get himself and Harry far away from the death trap, but a frigid tendril of magic wrapped around his leg and began tugging him back towards the fluttering curtain.

"Harry!" he gasped, scrabbling for a better hold on the slick stone and slipping back with a shoe that didn't offer much purchase. 

The deceptively mundane looking Veil was fluttering towards him now, swallowing more leg and catching hold of his wand hand. He struggled desperately, panicking even more as he could gain nothing back no matter how hard he tugged and cursed. Another spell blasted overhead and he was certain that Bellatrix was trying to tease him towards his death, dragging it out for her own sick pleasure. 

A solid and slightly bloodied hand grabbed his and grey eyes met green.

"What's going on?!" Harry shouted, his own panic evident. 

" _Protego_!" was shouted by a familiar voice and Moony was right there grasping Harry and pulling desperately. "Harry, you need to back away!" he gritted out. "We can't risk you falling in!"

"No! I'm not leaving him!"

"Listen to him, Harry!" The cold was creeping up his leg and arm and the drag backwards into death seemed inevitable. "You need to get..out!"

"NO!!!"

"TONKS!!!" Remus screamed into the din of the ongoing battle before he muttered a few curses.

Everyone was still too busy fighting for their lives and Sirius knew that he was out of time. Harry could get killed and it would be his fault. 

"I'm not letting you go!" Harry hissed, his eyes as wild as the current state of his hair. He shot a few spells over his shoulder with the hand not currently clenching Sirius' in a grip tight enough that his nails were drawing blood. 

Sirius could see the truth in Remus' eyes as much as he felt it. What went into the Veil could never come out again; there was no escape. All he could do was get Harry far away before Voldemort arrived and blasted them all into the Veil. There wouldn't be a hope of defeating that maniac without Harry.

"Let me g-" A dark flutter of robes billowed overhead and a sudden memory shot to the forefront of his mind. "Secumseptra!" he shrieked towards Remus. Confusion crossed his face for a moment and the werewolf was glancing around with more defensive spells issuing from his wand. "No, on me you daft git!"

"Sirius, it'll-"

"Better than dead!" 

"Stop arguing and just do what he says!" Harry jumped in. The poor kid had no clue what he was urging his ex-professor to do and Sirius almost felt bad. 

Another spell exploded near the three of them and Hermione could be heard screaming in pain. Remus looked stricken, but he set his mouth in determination and jerked himself and Harry back far enough to be clear of the curse.

" _Sectumsempra!_ "

The pain of freezing was replaced with a fiery burn and Sirius couldn't keep in the howl of pain. It was a tricky spell to use with accuracy unless you practiced it regularly, so a portion of the wizard's brain applauded Remus' mostly spot-on execution. He fell forward into an ungraceful heap and was immediately hauled away from the Veil by two sets of hands before the chilling voice of Voldemort could be heard. 

Harry was cursing up a storm now, words he'd probably learned from Ron and maybe even Fred and George while Sirius felt suddenly light-headed and nauseated. There was a pounding in his head that was speeding up and skipping, something that he realized could very well be the erratic pump of his heart. Blood was pouring out of the severed limbs, that curse making any healing difficult and he didn't have much time. 

No wand, no spells, not even any energy left. It was as if contact with the Veil had been depleting him of his very life force. The sounds of the battle raging were fuzzy and wobbly now, vertigo distorting his vision. Moony, pale faced and drenched in blood now, his lips a rapid blur and his wand waving desperately. He was a good man to have around during dire situations. 

"Harry," he mumbled, face pressed against the grime of the cold floor. "Ha..rry..."

Shock was taking over his system and Sirius was grateful for the relief from the pain. Moisture welled in his eyes as he thought of all the things he hadn't yet told the boy. There were stories of Lily and James that he hadn't shared yet or that one time that James botched his Animagus transformation because he'd gotten so sodding drunk. He hadn't told Harry just how much he loved him, how he always had. Or how he had actually wept the first time he held that tiny figure in his arms. Harry had been loved, from the moment he was known and was continued to be loved. He hadn't told him that enough. 

His hand reached out and grasped at the air in search of his godson.

* * *

Quiet sobs greeting his awareness and Sirius felt the pull on his heartstrings. Hadn't there been enough grief already?

"Hey," he croaked weakly. "'m not dead yet." 

At least, he hoped he wasn't.

"S-sirius?"

The poor kid sounded absolutely wrecked and the ex-convict wondered what exactly happened after he fainted. His tired eyes found the drawn face of his godson and Sirius tried to reach out to brush those tears away. He was met with the sight of a bandaged stump of an arm and stared at it in shock for a moment. His periphery vision caught the anxious look on Harry's face so he schooled his features into a more neutral look before settling the damaged limb back onto the bed. Why could he still feel his hand as if it was still there?

"Hey, Harry," he offered as calmly as he could. "Is everyone okay?"

Those green eyes glanced down at the bandaged limb and his sheet-covered legs before jumping back up to his face. 

"We're...mostly intact," he sniffled. "Ron got injured pretty badly by those brain-things and Hermione's going to be on potions for a while."

"And you?"

Harry looked down at his feet before fidgeting with his sleeves.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine, mate."

Guilt, the poor boy was always looking so guilty when he wasn't completely pissed off. 

"I'm so sorry," he whispered before rubbing harshly at his eyes. "This was all my-"

"Don't even bother finishing that statement," Sirius ordered sternly. "You're alive and that's what matters. I'll heal and there's nothing of it."

"But your..."

He was looking at the arm again and Sirius realized that he was thinking about the wand and dueling. 

"It'll be fine. I'm actually somewhat ambidextrous so I'll just switch over." It wasn't entirely the truth, but he was hoping that it would help assuage the young wizard. "Besides, I've got Remus to whip me into shape. He's a good instructor, yeah? He'll have me dueling in no time."

Harry rubbed at his eyes again with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"I'm just sick of it all," he confided softly. "I'm sick of always putting people in danger, of my friends and..." His eyes glanced briefly up at Sirius' face before dropping just as quickly. "...and family getting hurt. I didn't even know that we were in danger standing in front of that thing. How can I protect others if I'm too stupid to know what's dangerous? And not to mention falling for the trap!"

Reaching across his body with the other arm, Sirius settled a hand on the young man's elbow and gave it a squeeze. How many times had he seen James hunched over like that, stressed and fretting?

"It's done and over with, Harry." He was growing so tired again, no doubt from the potions Remus was probably shoving down his throat. "You can't go back in time, so best look ahead. You're always quick to learn, so I don't expect you to be falling for anymore traps by that ugly old madman."

An unexpected snort of amusement burst out from those thinned pale lips and Sirius felt that maybe he had helped. Harry's shoulders were already relaxing and he was looking a little less like crying again. 

"They're going to want me to leave here soon," Harry muttered softly. "I don't want to."

"Come here," Sirius yawned as he tried his best to scoot over in the lumpy bed. Pain shot through his right arm and leg as he tried to use them as he normal would and he hissed and winced before seeing Harry's crestfallen expression. "Ah, help me budge over, will you? And then plan on being stuck here for the rest of the night because I'm a cuddler."

Harry didn't even bother stripping out of his grimy clothes when he pulled back the covers to help his godfather and settle in. Sirius was able to gauge the injuries better and decided that a proper freak-out would be in order after his godson was sent back to the hell-hole of a place he had to stay at over the summer. It looked like the limbs were lost at just above the knee and halfway up his upper arm. He sighed tiredly and rolled onto his uninjured side, staring at the faded wall. Warmth pressed up against him and soon the sound of breathing became heavy and deep. 

Sirius lifted what remained of his arm and could feel the panic of being pulled back towards the Veil again.

"It was worth it," he whispered to himself. "It will always be worth it."

For Harry. For James.


End file.
